It’s noon, and right in the middle of Lenox Mall, between and betwixt the Great American Cookie stand and Macy’s is a sight that explains it all: a ten year old boy getting pushed in what seems to be a two-year olds stroller. His prepubescent feet are so long that he is forced to sit Indian-style, Chinese-style, American-style you name it he’s sitting it…to prevent his Scooby-Doo light up sneakers from scraping the mosaic tiled floors. As if that isn’t enough, cocked on his mother’s hip is his twin brother being cradled in her bosom as if he is a newborn baby. Why is this mother fueling her twins laziness? The answer is simple: we’re living in America.

Living in America means that attributes that lead to a nation’s downfall are bred into children at a young age. Laziness, apathy, obesity, selfishness…these traits attack American babies while they are still in the cradle. When many think of America, the synonyms fat, lazy, and apathetic come to mind. When people think of American children, they think the same words funneled into a smaller package.

It’s pathetic.

Butterball Tom and Thunderthighs Suzy who are only five grow into teenagers whose parents chuck out thousands in fat camps where counselors are paid to tell these children that being overweight is okay. However, it’s not. Six years down the road, Tom becomes the founder of an organization whose main goals are to get airplane seats made larger and the lite menu off of Taco Bell banned. Around that time Suzy is making history filing a controversial lawsuit against God blaming him for her heart problems. Her reason: Her fat sautéed heart wasn’t made big enough. And this timeline isn’t a stretch, even Hitler didn’t just pop out the womb throwing mustard gas at Jews. It was a gradual process, a few lizards being blown up and mutilated here and there, then he moved to bigger things.

You can’t really blame the children, but you must question the adults that are raising them. These same adults are the ones that complain but helped fuel the disaster. Don’t complain about a homophobic son when you’re the one who taught him at age five that he couldn’t go to Claire’s or any store with the color pink in it because it was for ladies and sissies. And don’t complain about the gold diggers when you raised your daughter to throw a fit and get her Little Mermaid panties in a wad when she didn’t get her way. The same people who are complaining about generations x, y,and z are the ones that raised them.

At 12thDisciples, we’re always looking for an excuse to party. What better excuse then bringing Dee&Ricky, celebrity designer duo that have collaborated with Marc Jacobs, G-Shock, Kanye West and more to the city of Atlanta to host the #CreativeCurating show.

Come out to Spring4th Center, August 25th for a night of partying, fashion, and art. A dance floor being worked by DJ’s GREATeclectic and Martina McFLYY. Showgirls clad in designs by Rocking Rosie, Whitley Denise, La Vita, and Calapo. A night of performances by Papa Jae, Miranda Nicole, Marian Mereba, Micah Freeman, Will and Megan Thomas. And art presented by Chris Hobe and GREATeclectic. I’m sure this event will be as enjoyable as going to a casino to play blackjack games. Everyone will really have a great time there.

12thDisciples x Art Nouveau Magazine x FAMO

Spring4th Center

August 25th 8 p.m.-1a.m.

10 in Advance
15 at the Door

BE THERE OR BE SQUARE (or whatever else shape you like to get twisted in

TO PURCHASE TICKETS: http://12thdisciples.event​brite.com/

It’s Sunday evening at the New Era store in Downtown, Atlanta. The hat store is buzzing with life as media and fans begin to pack in for the event that is set to take place: a free J*Davey performance. The crowd isn’t your typical, you’ve got the J*Davey fans mingling with the urban New Era crowd and usually it would be a recipe for disaster, but tonight everything is just fine. After all the promise of Starbucks party platters, wings and Jose Cuervo is enough to make anyone get along.

In the New Era break room, sitting on a half broken stool tapping away at her BlackBerry is Jack Davey. Her signature half mullet/ mohawk has grown out into long layers, she’s wearing glitter leggings, and an oversized white shirt, burgundy shades and Taylor Gang converse. Her other half Brook D’Leau is off to the corner dancing awkwardly to the beats that the DJ is spinning for the rap battle that is going on. There is an outer worldly bond that the two share. Maybe the result of touring together, or working together but nonetheless, I make a point to comment on it. “Have you two ever dated?” I asked all bright and doe eyed. I was expecting no, but the two give me something else to hold on to: “Maybe in the underworld…perhaps,” Jack tells me.

The two met in high school when Brook went to prom with a friend of Jack’s. “She went to an all girls school we met there and didn’t find out until a year later that we were into the same types of music. And we decided to record one song and now we’re here,” Brook adds.

Here as in the New Era store on a Sunday afternoon treating fans to a free performance the day after there packed out performance at the Masquerade. The duo is still high off of there performance from last night. “After all, we’re not on a label so everything is a bit more rewarding,” Brook tells me. Fans are mingling around, taking glimpses into the back room and asking for pictures. In a room full of snap backs, fitted hats, hat cleaner…hats galore, the duo stands out. But the band that originated in Los Angeles and is a compilation of rock, hip-hop, soul and R&B, is used to standing out. Recently released from their deal with Warner Brothers, the duo produced, arranged and organized their “The New World Culture Tour”.

“It’s really about reinvesting your money into your business,” Brook tells me.

Concerning their split from Warner, Brook D’Leau explains, “I think they saw something they liked but had their own ideas of what they ultimately wanted it to sound like and look like and that didn’t coincide with we wanted it to sound and look like. So, we just amicably parted ways. It’s that simple.”

Jacks jumps in, “95% of the artist that signs and the other 5% are willing to take the fall. They are fabricated to a small degree and there is a very small percentage who are actually doing what they want to do, how they want to do it on a label. Most of the time its because of the fact that they have invested in themselves and don’t really need a label…the labels need them.”

It isn’t J*Davey’s first time to Atlanta so they are not at all surprised at the Atlanta hipster crowd that has come out for them, “We’ve been here a few times. I think it may be our third or fourth time,” Jack tells me,“It’s different. I just don’t know how. It’s really flashy here I mean it’s flashy in Los Angeles too. A little bit of the same but with a slower vibe. A little more laid back.”

Tonight, the duo will be performing a couple of songs from their five song Evil Christian EP that was inspired by the simplest thing…life. “Life is always the biggest inspiration. I don’t think you need any other inspiration beyond that. The things that you see in passing. That was the biggest inspiration for us.”

Jack tells me that they were so inspired when they were recording the EP that it took no time at all. “When we’re feeling it, it takes us no time, and when we’re not feeling it, we work on other things. That came together really quickly, it was a no brainer. But we don’t like to rush our creative process. It takes us a while to get it out there, but it’s always worth the wait”

For a woman who was once wearing a half shaved mullet/mohawk and whose burgundy shades in a dimly lit room is the center of attention, I can’t help but wonder what Jack Davey’s definition of glamour is. “Glamour is all relative. To me my lifestyle is glamorous but to another person it might not be. It’s all relative. In the grand scheme of things it doesn’t really matter. If your project is shit and you’re living glamorously its a facade anyway so we live as real as we are. Its pretty glamourous to me,” she explains.

Concerning her styles she is cites vintage, thrifting and chucks as playing a huge part. “Style is my inspiration. Everyday that I wake up, I’m a different person and my style reflects that. I guess my clothes inspire me. Whatever I see is what gets thrown together. I like my stuff vintage, and I’m also a fan of the Chucks.”

I ask the duo if they are Taylor Ganged and a bit of laugher follows suit. “We’re representing a new division of Taylor Gang. We’re not so cool and swaggy though. We’re the awkward division.”

We begin to talk about some of the sounds that they have been listening to while on tour and Ariel Pink and a few others are mentioned.
“It takes me a while to figure out what’s new and current so I wait six months and if it’s still relevant then I’ll listen to it,” Jack explains.

While on the subject of popular music, Odd Future comes up. “Every journalist that we speak to asks us about them,” Brook tells me.

Jack adds, “They’re cute kids. We’ve know about them for a long time. It’s great to see them finally get what they’re getting. But, they’re cute kids.”

We switch the conversation from music to art and Jack gets a chance to tell me about some of her favorite artists.

“I like Gordon Parks, I love Hedi Sliman. He’s a french fashion photographer who was a designer for Dior. I love Toulouse Lautrec, a lot of old art. When I see it it strikes me. Art encompasses so many things, I can walk outside and see a bomb on a wall and thats great art for me. I enjoy it all for different reasons, what’s not to enjoy? It’s all a way of expression”

With such refined names being thrown around, I’m interested to see what other icons J*Davey hold in esteem.

If you could invite one person dead or alive for dinner, or tea, who would it be? I ask them.

Brook replies, “David Burn.”

Jack on the other hand says Jim Morrison. “We’re kindred spirits. Or maybe…Miles Davis. I’d just invite them all and see which one showed up”

And with that my persona time with J*Davey comes to a dawn. The venue has reached maximum capacity, the line outside is stretching way to long and the fans are getting restless because they want to hear J*Davey.

The Lil’ B Effect

I was still in high school when the band Chester French’s two buzz stirring singles, “Jimmy Choos” and “She Loves Everybody” were released. Super producer, Pharrell cosigned them, so of course they had to be amazing. All I knew was that a bidding war, record labels and Pharrell Williams were involved, so I obliged, listened and I loved it. The band was a mixture of rock and pop, and the lyrics and the moods that they evoked gave me saturday night fevers. They were The Beatles condensed into two, and the Bee Gees without the annoying anti-puberty sound. I knew all the words by heart, and because of Chester French and the hotness that they exuded I added white chocolate as my new favorite treat.

1. Chester French

After the bidding war that went on for weeks, came to an end, Pharrell announced that the Harvard students who were causing quite a stir in the entertainment industry would be signed to Star Trak. Worst idea ever. A debut album was released, collaborations with Clinton Spark’s, Common, Factz and several other artists followed but after that, the band simply disappeared. The cause was said to be that they were working on their second album, but here’s the problem with Chester French. Their sound was good, but not great, their vibe was awesome but not amazing. We’ve already forgotten about them.

2. Amy Winehouse

Duffy, Adele, Leona Lewis…these girls can’t even hold a match to Amy Winehouse. Amy Winehouse begat Lily Allen who begat Adele who begat Duffy, who begat Leona Lewis. Amy Winehouse’s single “Rehab” was what brought her to the scene, I remember everyone being in awe at this sickly skinny white woman with jet black hair fastened into a bee hive, covered in jail bird tattoos, with make-up that was in no way natural singing about love, sex, drugs, despair and betrayal. Her visual gave you a mixture of a brunette Bardot and Sedgwick, yet her voice gave you that of an African American soul singer.

Tales of cocaine, heroine, marijuana and ecstasy swam around as the cause of the artist’s downfall, however I have something a bit more abstract, it was love. I feel as if almost every horrific thing that Amy Winehouse went through was dependent on her codependent husband Blake Fielder-Civil’s actions. Pictures swarming around with them high off coke, ecstasy and other baked acids on the streets. Matching bruises and cuts on the couples arms. Amy claimed that love was a losing game, but in a sense to her it was not. Concerning Amy’s career, love won and she lost.

3. Mr Hudson

If real life were high school, then Mr. Hudson would be the quirky White kid that all the Black kids loved and allowed the honor of using the term “nigga”. With cosigners such as Kanye West and Jay-Z, Mr. Hudson’s disappearance is really one that baffles. “SuperNova” “Young Forever”, “There Will be Tears”, the British artist was not afraid to use auto tune and unlike Britney Spears, everyone loved it. I got a chance to speak to Hudson about a year ago, and although the interview was an honor, when it came time to talk about his upcoming endeavors, there seemed to be none. The part of the interview where we talked about his pasts works, Kanye West and Jay-Z seemed to span forever, yet the part where we talked about who he planned to work with and upcoming works: minutes. His rise to fame was too quick and his fall to regularity was even quicker.

“Amusa Bouche” is bringing a taste of Montreal to Brooklyn, New York. “Amusa Bouche” which is a collection of contemporary and visual artists from Montreal will be showcasing their work at the ROUGE58 gallery in Brooklyn, New York.. The exhibition will feature work from Montreal based artists Tim Bernard, JP King, Alan Ganev, and Nathan Brown.

These artist will have different techniques showcased that include illustration, printing, painting, collage and digital graphics. The group exhibit will take place from May 6-May 20 with an opening reception being held May 6 7pm-10pm.

ROUGE58 is located at 55 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211.

At 12thDisciples, we’re always looking for an excuse to party. What better excuse than bringing “Downtown’s Sweetheart” Va$htie Kola to the Electric Avenue that we affectionately call Atlanta to host our “Creative Curating” fashion show?

Come celebrate with us on the 23rd of June. Featuring designs from La Vita, Violette, Sheila A. Rashid, Body Politik, House of Adrene, Yanghi, Asiyami Gold, Youtheary Khmer.

Eclectic, pop and hip-hop sounds will be infused on the 23rd with performances from Atlanta’s own Ethereal, GreatEclectic, Jay West, Micah Freeman, Supreme I.N.K, KeithCharles, Weapons of Audio and out of town guest, Ashton Travis. Flyer design by The Influencers.

Tickets for 12thDisciples’ “Creative Curating” show are now on sale. Ticket’s are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Tickets can be purchased here.

Lilly Heine is a designer whose graduate collection has been the acceptance from loads of acclamation in the fashion realm. Inspired by none other than the late great Picasso himself, her shape shifting, luxurious dresses have landed her a Global Fashion Award for Most Creative Student Collection, and features in high end locations such as Vogue Italia and Vogue UK. Check out her AW10 show below and some images of her Top Shop collection.

[View with PicLens]

“White Jesus” is a Slumerican presented film that is directed by rapper YelaWolf. Although the video has been out for a few weeks it caught my eye when a friend of mine kept repeating the phrase “White Jesus.” Instead of dismissing it as his typical blasphemous rants, I decided to check it out. The Swinsky film features a cameo from Yelawolf and some crazy acid trippy scenes. Watch it here.

.NyTHAN JAMES is a designer who with his trunk series considered everything from the, “weight of the leather to the hardware and structural elements.” His recently released collection of custom-crafted accessories is said to have garnered inquiries from as far as Australia, Italy and the fashion mecca France. The collection which is titled The Bespoke Trunk series consists of the 72-Hour Trunk and the 24-Hour Trunk.

The 72-Hour Trunk is made of 10 oz. leather, and features “superbly detailed stitching and shallow rivet studding for a clean finish.” Buyers have the option of having their say for almost anything, including leather color and finish, interior lining and stowage, strap placement as well as choice of chrome or brass hardware. And if that isn’t enough to have you running to his online ship to purchase you trunk, consider this: It’s made in the U.S.

Playing with such cold and hard elements, he is an artist that creates with his crafty hand pieces that are not only pleasing to the eye but also architectural in design. His name is Stephen Fitz-Gerald and he is an artist who dabbles in the language of metal. His work is so elaborately clean-cut and detailed that it almost becomes sensual. Sculpting everything from gazebos to fountains, to gates to beds, I’ve chosen some of my favorite creations of the artist to share with Art Nouveau.

[View with PicLens]

Four or five years ago, there were these ads circulating whose objectives were to educate the public on piracy. The campaigns employed celebrity faces such as Britney Spears, Missy Elliot and the likes to put a face to the statistics of artists getting robbed of their money from illegal downloading. In all of these campaigns, the artists featured were award winning and chart topping, so the issue of piracy wasn’t one in which the music was not favored, but instead one in which the act of paying for the music was disdained. The onset of trends such as mp3 players and technological advances were thought to be one of the factors of these trends. However, when Kanye West’s “Runway” got leaked, I came up with some theories.

People don’t give a shit about art. They don’t care about the setbacks that an artist must endure when an album that they have worked on for months is leaked. They don’t care about the amount of money that an artist and a label loses when illegal downloading occurs. Them not caring wouldn’t really matter if there wasn’t a trickle down effect. Did you really think that Kanye West album getting leaked wouldn’t have an effect on someone else’s art? As humans we like to reason. In our innocent little heads we play these compare and contrast games. If we can get Kanye West’s or Lady Gaga’s album for free why should we invest in a three hundred dollar painting by a starving hipster who lives in Little Five? The effect from the public’s apathetic views on music and art are trickling down, and it is becoming a serious threat.

People think that being an artist is a hobby. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I’ve had sites ask me to use my contacts to get artist interviews for their sites and the paychecks still haven’t been mailed to me. Why? They think it’s a hobby. A hobby is defined as something that someone does in their spare time as a means of relaxation. Let me tell you something: there is nothing relaxing about writing or doing interviews. There are grammar points that must always be kept in mind, hours of editing, and the celebrity that you’re interviewing might have had a bad day and decide to give you one word answers to every question. Same goes for painting, the only painters that I have ever spoken to that told me that painting was a relaxing hobby, were still using washable CRAYOLA water colors, and just happened to be three years old.

The artists of today are not happy and if you want to see them smile, then pay them. We’re not living in the golden days anymore when artists were expected to be starving, shooting up, and running around town in hand me downs covered in paint, or pencil and pad in hand waiting for inspiration. The artists of today can accurately spell and pronounce Armani, Givenchy, Giambattista Valli and they need the coins to pay for these treasures, so…pay up.

This week, it was announced that Kanye West’s star studded “Monster” video had been banned from MTV or rather serious edits requested. Among the posts, blogs etc. talking about MTV’s demands, what many fail to realize is that this is being analyzed among the wrong lines. Instead of analyzing this among the lines that “Wow, that video was racy” what many should do is analiyze it among the lines of “Wow, that video was racy, but MTV has aired WORSE.”

First and foremost in order for many to see the weight of this ban, I would like to take them back to a video that premiered the summer of 2010. In this video, you have the same half dead Louboutin wearing white girls, with the beat faces and couture dresses, hanging from ceilings and draped against garden fountains. Yes, I’m talking Lady Gaga’s Papparrazi. In Lady Gaga’s papparrazi video, it opens up with Gaga having dry sex with some European male moaning words like “Pus, Pus” that sound TOO CLOSE to pussy. In the next clip, they’re making out so passionately and it’s so cute and fun until he pushes her off the balcony. In the minutes, seconds and clips that follow between and betwixt scenes of Lady Gaga making out with these rocker drags or girls or maybe even guys who didn’t fully make it through puberty, images of beautiful slaughtered women grace your screen.

If you take Lady Gaga’s “Papparrazi” and Kanye West’s “Monster” watch them at the same time muted. Remove Nicki’s fat ass, Jay-Z’s camel face and Rick Ross’s man tits you basically have the same video. Why then, was one banned or rather told to do some serious editing, while the other went on to be an MTV favorite? I don’t want to pull the black card, but I’m really itching too.

“The mainstreaming of videos like this increases desensitized and callous attitudes toward violence against women…Women are reduced to sex-doll like playthings. So great is the level of desensitization that the barbaric treatment of women and girls is seen as normal and to be expected. We decided to run this campaign because we wanted to challenge the status quo, ” said Melinda Tankard Reist one of the activist behind that ban.

Here’s the thing: when you let one video run that has dead white girls wearing Louboutins, and then ban another video from running that has the same dead white girls wearing Louboutins, and it just so happens that one of the artists involved is Black and the other one is white, you’re playing with fire and literally asking for the black card to get pulled.  It no longer has anything to do with feminism or violence because it obviously wasn’t that big of deal when you let Lady Gaga’s video pass.